Byron winemaker Jonathan Nagy takes us into the barrel room where the recently harvested grapes are fermenting.
Barrel Fermenting Grapes
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Destemming Grapes at Foxen Winery
Foxen Winery co-founder Dick Doré shows us his new destemming machine as the first fruit of 2014 begins to come in.
Harvest Work Is More Than Just Picking
When most people think of the work that goes into harvesting wine grapes, picking is the first thing to come to mind. But there are other jobs for the vineyard crew during harvest.
Sampling Grapes in Preparation for Harvest
During an early morning walk with Ryan Carr we gather grape samples to test in preparation for harvest.
LEAF LOVE: Roussanne
Printmaker Karen Gearhart-Jensen’s first grape leaf pressing was of Grenache Blanc leaves in April 2014, followed by this exploration of Roussanne much later in the growing season.
Protecting Grapes From Birds With Netting
As fruit ripens, a walk in the vineyard with winegrower Michael Larner led to an interesting discovery and we learned how vineyards use netting to protect their precious crop from birds. To explore this further, we visited Riverbench Vineyard to see the crew applying the netting to their vines.
Michael Larner Explains Veraison As A Survival Mechanism
Winegrower Michael Larner explains a survival mechanism that wine grapes have developed to advertise their sugar levels to birds and other animals.
UP CLOSE: Grape Vine Tendrils
In the plant world, a tendril is a thin stem or leaf with a thread-like shape that climbing plants, such as the grape vine, use for support and attachment. Ancient vines twined tendrils around trees, whereas today they grow around intricate trellis systems in the vineyard. These tendrils have the ability to perform photosynthesis. Continue reading
Jonathan Nagy Explains Vertical Shoot Positioning
Winemaker Jonathan Nagy explains vertical shoot positioning (VSP) and other techniques employed by the vineyard team at Byron to take advantage of the unique climate of the Santa Maria Valley.
Jonathan Nagy: Byron Winery
No other winemaker is quite as jovial as Byron’s Jonathan Nagy.
Listen as he gives a straightforward lowdown on what it’s like to be married to another winemaker and how he makes the Santa Maria Valley’s principal varietals, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, distinctly different.
UP CLOSE: Fruit Set
The pollination of little grapevine flowers almost immediately leads to a phase called “set,” where the fruit actually begins to appear on the cluster in the form of very small grape seeds, and berries to protect them. Continue reading